Mad King
by ChilliLemons
Summary: A girl called Akiko, with a last name no one knew, had brushed past a boy called Atobe Keigo with a simple 'sorry'. AtobexOCxFuji; Character death.


**Disclaimer: I don't own PoT.  
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Atobe Keigo, King of Hyoutei. Arguably the richest teenager in Japan.

_Definitely _the most narcissistic .

People with inflated egos are generally afflicted with some kind of psychological problem, like, their parents haven't been around for them enough or something like that.

But Atobe's ego wasn't inflated.

It was _bloated_.

A timid, petrified, _brave_ school counselor had once summoned him to the school office (yes, he acknowledged her bravery) and asked him in a gentle, commiserating voice, if there was anything bothering him, 'such as _family problems_'?

She was sent packing the next day.

No, Atobe Keigo's parents had never neglected him. His mother had taken pains to spend time with her _darling boy_, and his father was in sync with everything in his son's life.

They'd given him everything he'd ever wanted, and had made sure he could get everything he was ever likely to want. He'd won the others, or received them on a silver platter.

His prowess at tennis. His good looks. His numerous adoring, _fawning_ fan club- consisting of both sexes.

Everyone acknowledged him.

* * *

><p>The small mass did not hit his shoulder with enough force to hurt, but it did startle him.<p>

"Ow!" He looked down in mild chagrin.

The girl was rubbing her shoulder. She was on the small side, but not petite; ordinary-looking, with brownish hair and very fair skin.

She glanced up at him. A small, apologetic smile graced her mouth.

"Sorry." She said, before bending down to pick up her books.

Having done so, she walked past him without a second glance. Leaving the King staring after her.

She hadn't behaved as she _should_. She hadn't cringed, or blushed, or got flustered. She hadn't poured forth interminable apologies.

She hadn't acknowledged him.

* * *

><p>Oshitari told him her name. It was Akiko.<p>

When he asked for her last name, he was told that it wasn't in the role.

A girl called Akiko, with a last name no one knew.

A girl called Akiko, with a last name no one knew, had _brushed past_ a boy called Atobe Keigo with a simple 'sorry'.

Unacceptable.

He would bring her to order.

* * *

><p>He caught her coming out of a classroom.<p>

"Akiko-san." She turned. "Hello, Atobe-san."

He said nothing. He waited for something more, something he could deal with: adulation, or starry eyes. Something familiar.

"Is there something I can help you with?" She asked.

"Address Ore-sama properly." He snapped. She raised an eyebrow. "I did."

"No, you did not."

She looked faintly puzzled. Then he saw a look of comprehension on her face. _'Finally.'_

"You want me to address you as 'Atobe-sama'?" She enquired.

Her lips curled into a slightly mocking smile. "But I'm not a fan of yours, Atobe-san. So I can't address you like that."

He was dumbstruck.

She turned away.

His tongue unglued itself. "What's your name?"

"Akiko."

"Ore-sama wants to know your last name."

"I haven't told anyone." She replied, seemingly delighting in driving him up the wall.

"Did anyone ask?"

A small laugh. "No. 'Akiko' was good enough for them."

"Ore-sama has asked. Or do you have a problem telling Ore-sama?" He spoke as though that was a stupid idea.

She turned back to him. "No, I actually don't have a problem telling you. It's 'Tezuka'."

That was when he noticed her eyes. Hazel, or russet. Whatever it was, they were the same shade as the eyes he had played long ago, and had striven to beat. The eyes that had refused to break.

"Tezuka Akiko." He repeated, dazed. "Why are you not in Seigaku?"

He was alone in the hallway.

* * *

><p>The next time they met, he had followed her.<p>

"This must be a record." She said, eyes dancing with that smile. "I hope you're not following me, Atobe-san."

"What if Ore-sama is?" He asked coolly, leaning against a doorframe.

"Nothing I can do about it, is there?" She asked. "No one has ever managed to change your mind."

"And you would know that how?"

"I've been in your class since the second year of juniour high, Atobe-san. Why wouldn't I know?" She replied.

"Why are you here?" He asked.

"When you say 'here', do you mean 'this classroom', or 'Hyoutei'?" She asked, tilting her head.

"In Hyoutei."

"Because my brother thought it would be better for me to study away from his shadow." She smiled, though not at him. "Hyoutei was the closest."

"Hm."

"Well, I'm going. Till tomorrow, Atobe-san." She left, as bright and fresh and _unknown_ as ever.

* * *

><p>"Go out with Ore-sama." He said.<p>

For the first time, he saw shock, and then anger.

"_No_."

The words were little more than a hiss. And he was left alone again.

* * *

><p>"She's dating Fuji." Oshitari informed him.<p>

The anger that seized him was sudden and irrational. The jealousy was the fuel.

'_Fuji Syusuke, genius of Seigaku.'_

* * *

><p>"Go out with me." He said.<p>

She did not miss the replacement of 'Ore-sama'. And she wanted to laugh because it was-

_-oh-so-fake._

"No. I'm already dating someone."

"I know." She stared at him, revolted. "I'm asking you break up with Fuji and go out with me."

"Go to hell." She spat.

"For you, I will." He promised, and there was a light in his eyes she feared.

That was the last time he saw her.

* * *

><p>The next time she saw him, he was hanging by a rope from the window of III-A. Her class.<p>

She didn't scream. She didn't weep for the _(dead, dead, so very dead)_ King. She pulled out her cell phone and called the fire department. She sent Oshitari to bring the Principal, then to call his parents.

When she was alone, she called her brother.

"Atobe Keigo committed suicide, onii-san."

There was no reply.

"Onii-san?"

More silence. Then, "Yudan sezu ni ikou, Akiko."

An empty smile made its way to her face. "Of course."

She called Syusuke when she was seated at a café, and no one was around.

"_Akiko?"_

"Syusuke, I need to speak to you."

"_Of course; where are you?"_

"At Costa. How long will you take?"

"_Five minutes if it's an emergency. Seven if not."_

"I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack."

'_Beep…beep…beep'_

He was there in two minutes.

His eyes were wide and worried as he kissed her. "Akiko, what happened?"

"Atobe Keigo committed suicide."

Unlike Kunimitsu, he didn't hide his reaction.

He was horrified.

"But what does this have to do with you?"

"Everything." She paused for a moment, and then continued. "He asked me out two days ago."

She was met with silence. "I refused. But he asked me again, yesterday."

His cheeks were paler than usual. Still he did not interrupt her.

"He knew about us." She squeezed his hand. "He asked me to break up with you and date him."

"I told him to go to hell."

If he had not seen the sudden anguish in her eyes, he would have chuckled.

"He- he said-" Her voice broke.

"Akiko, what did he say to that?" Syusuke asked quietly. "Calm yourself, and tell me."

"_For you, I will."_ Tears sprang into her eyes. "He frightened me when he said that, Syusuke. I was afraid. But I didn't expect… I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't _this_."

He knelt by her chair and wiped her cheeks. "It's not your fault, Akiko. What Atobe did to himself- it's _not your fault._"

"I'm… _afraid._ Of him. He was following me around, Syusuke, trying to get me to be like the other girls who fawned over him. What if he's _still_-" She couldn't utter the fearful words, so she sobbed some more into her lover's shoulder.

"If he is, Akiko, then it's his problem. He can't harm you, Akiko, not while Tezuka and I are here. I won't _let him_." Syusuke did not laugh at her. He knew it was a valid concern.

"We won't let him touch you, Akiko."

* * *

><p>The last time she saw him, it was at his funeral.<p>

She watched his body being lowered into the grave. The white robes they'd dressed the corpse in covered up the marks of the rope around his neck. She was glad of it.

Everyone cried.

Except Tezuka Akiko.

She was sorry for his death, but the hand that took his life, the will that decided he must die, was his alone. She could not feel sorry for his weakness.

She felt sorry for his parents, who had not known that their son had been suffering.

'_Those who commit suicide usually have some sort of psychological problem, don't they?'_

That's what the Hyoutei student body whispered, three weeks later.  
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**Review!**

**Kiza.**


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